CHAPTER 428: STOLEN GOOD.

‎Arandil wiped off the sweat on his forehead with a towel when he felt a presence behind him. He turned around and tossed away the towel as he stabbed Aristoria’s greatsword on the ground, cutting the ground like a hot knife on butter. The person that came to his private training ground was Arnold with two short swords hanging on his waist.

‎"They came back with all the people. Right now, Reynard is guiding them to the dungeon. We have made it as comfortable as we could, and there would be enough food for everyone for a few days," Arnold said as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

‎"We could have sent them to the capital city instead..." Arandil said as he walked toward the bench and sat there, staring at Aristoria’s sword that looked magnificent with its shiny silver color with beautiful engraving on the blade.

‎"We could, but it’s too far away for them. There won’t be enough carriages, wagons, and horses for everyone," Arnold nodded in agreement. "Also, they don’t have the money to go to the capital city either, and even if they have the money, they have no place to stay there. This castle is the safest and the closest, and we have no choice but to take them here," Arnold responded and nodded his head.

‎"If we failed to protect this castle?" Arandil asked, glancing at Arnold, testing Arnold’s mind, the mind of a strategist.

‎"Then we are killing the people indirectly. If we couldn’t protect them at this moment, who could? They’re going to die anyway, but that’s if we failed," Arnold answered calmly, his expression calm and collected.

‎"That’s it? No other solution?" Arandil got up from the bench and walked toward Aristoria’s greatsword, holding the handle with both hands.

‎"If you want a solution without losing even a single life, then there’s none. If you’re fine with sacrificing some, there are plenty of solutions," Arnold answered, looking out the window, seeing the sun going down. "Well, I know what you want. That’s why I have used my connections to gather as many carriages and wagons as they could. Approximately, they will be here by tomorrow night or in the morning the day after tomorrow," he pointed out.

‎Arandil scoffed and put a smirk on his face as he shook his head. He slowly pulled out the sword that sounded heavy, and how the veins in his hands and arms popped when he lifted it up.

‎"I’m your disciple, I know you more than anyone, Arandil, all your disciples know you well. We know how you will prioritize the people at any time," Arnold smirked with his eyes closed. "Reynard also has the same thought, and he had used his connection to bring wagons and carriages," he added as he pushed himself away from the wall.

‎Arandil couldn’t believe that his disciples knew what he wanted. He gave a nod to Arnold to show his gratitude, and Arnold nodded back at him. However, that peaceful moment disappeared the moment they heard the bells from outside. They both looked out the window and realized that the demon army had finally arrived.

‎"Gather everyone," Arandil said and hurriedly walked toward the door. "It’s time for war, and we will defend this castle no matter what..." he muttered as he walked past Arnold and left the training ground.

‎Arnold nodded and went to gather his knights and to inform Reynard and the others to go to their positions that Arandil had assigned to them. He narrowed his eyes as he looked outside the windows when he walked at a fast pace in the long hallway. He saw dots in the far distance on top of the hill with dark clouds following them, and knew they were the demon army.

‎"They’re still far away, but their presence is like they’re already breathing on the back of my neck..." Arnold muttered as he clenched his fists and fastened his pace. "So this is what it feels like to be in the presence of a powerful being..." He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

‎Edinand and Ayla had already infiltrated the castle, pretending to be refugees and blending in with thousands of them. They heard the bells and immediately some of the refugees were squirming in fear because they felt the presence of demons that brought their primal fear to the surface.

‎"It’s our chances, let’s go..." Erdinand whispered as he looked around and noticed the guards were overwhelmed by the chaos.

‎Ayla nodded and began to scream hysterically, making everyone around her panic as well. On the other hand, Erdinand began to stand up and pretended that he wanted to leave the dungeon because it was suffocating even though it was spacious. However, their acts were enough to make others act like them.

‎When chaos took over the people and the dungeon, Erdinand and Ayla used that opportunity to leave the dungeon. They had memorized the castle like the back of their hands and moved around without being noticed. When they looked outside the window, they both held their breath when they saw thousands of knights and mages on top of the walls, towers, and all the sieges.

‎When Ayla wanted to keep looking, Erdinand suddenly pulled her away from the window. Keith glanced at the windows in the distance, sensing a presence from inside the castle. He kept staring at the windows with his eyes narrowed, but the more he looked at them, the less he felt any presence from there.

‎Keith shook his head, thinking that he might have been imagining things since he was on edge because of the demonic presence. He focused on the vast field in the distance where the demon army was standing still, inflicting fear on the soldiers. He then jumped down from the tower and landed behind Arandil.

‎"The demonic force is less than what was reported. It seems they split their force, thankfully we have anticipated that and took in all the civilians. This is a good thing, we outmanuevered them," Keith said as he looked at the demonic army that hadn’t moved a muscle every since they revealed themselves.

"Keith, stay behind with Arnold. I’m going to face those demons with Reynard, Crestefan, and Mazur," Arandil said and whistled to call his horse.

"I’ll inform them..." Keith nodded with understanding and jumped really high to reach the castle tower.

In just a few minutes, Reynard, Crestefan, and Mazur came to Arandil’s side, riding their horses and ready to follow him. Arandil looked at them and they all looked ready to face the unknown with him since they trusted their master. They rode toward the demon army while all the soldiers prayed for their lord’s safety.

The demon army looked at the four figures that approached them, the Demon King looked at those figures. The Demon King raised his hand and immediately all the demons and the possessed unsheathed their swords. The moment the Demon King swung his hand down, all the demons charged toward Arandil and his disciples. Some of the demons cast dark magic toward them, creating weak hellfire that released corrosive gas.

Mazur laughed with a huge grin on his face as he stood up from his saddle and swung his axe around. He jumped high into the air and released a powerful Aura, slashing his heavy axe, cutting the wind and the sound, creating a powerful shockwave. The hellfire that was about to hit them suddenly changed its direction, destroying the area surrounding them, allowing Arandil and the others to keep on advancing.

"Is that all you got?!" Mazur laughed as he landed back on top of his horse.

The demons charged toward Arandil and the others, but then Crestefan moved ahead of the group with the spear in his hand. He jumped down from his horse and slowly the air around him became wobbly and the grass burned to ashes. His armor glowed hot red, and even the demons that were still far away from him could feel the extreme heat.

The moment Crestefan stabbed his spear to the ground, the ground trembled and exploded, destroying the bodies of the possessed and the demons that got hit by it. He used that opportunity to charge in and kill the remaining enemies that were trying to avoid the explosion. He moved so swiftly that his presence was hard to detect.

The Demon King watched at how Mazur and Crestefan fought and how easy it was for them to kill the demons and the possessed. Reynard and Arandil hadn’t joined the fight, letting those two get their fair share, and that only made the Demon King furious at how the humans looked down on them.

The Demon King decided to join the fight, revealing its true form that was three times larger than the biggest human and its wings that spread so widely that they could devour a big house. The Demon King flew toward Arandil and pulled out its razor-sharp claws, ready to cut him to pieces, however, before it could see anything, the Demon King’s body was split in half. All the demons were shocked when their commander got defeated so easily. However, their shock turned into fear when they realized their commander had actually died from that attack.

Rullein wrapped her arms around Rasmus neck from behind with a huge grin on her face.

"That sword... that belongs to Aristoria..." Rullein revealed.

"I know..." Rasmus’s eyes turned cold when he found out that the sword that he had been looking for was actually in the hand of the man who had killed his parents. "Now I know why they’re so confident, and I’m going to take that confident away," he said with a cold expression, planning to take the sword that rightfully belonged to him.

"Yes!" Rullein’s grin widened from ear to ear as her eyes glowed bright orange. "Let’s give them a proper show," she chuckled mischivously.